


“You’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”

by LulaIsAKitten



Series: First Kisses [19]
Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-28 02:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15038666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LulaIsAKitten/pseuds/LulaIsAKitten
Summary: Continuing the series of shorts of possible first kisses between these two. Got a few ideas. Feel free to submit prompts for anything you’d like to see in the comments below or over on Tumblr at lulacat3.





	“You’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ADreamIsAWishYourHeartMakes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamIsAWishYourHeartMakes/gifts).



> A gift for ADreamIsAWishYourHeartMakes. Thank you for the prompt!
> 
> “I was thinking maybe Cormoran a bit drunk while in Robin's company and Charlotte arriving in the same place, Cormoran kissing Robin and she accusing him that he kissed her because he wanted to hurt Charlotte and him admiting that he did because after she went on a date with another couldn't keep his feelings hidden anymore and didn't want to lose her again. Something like that... :-)”

Robin’s phone pinged as she was packing up to leave the office. Strike’s name appeared at the top of the message.

“Guess where I am?”

She smiled fondly at her phone.

“Go on,” she typed.

“The Silverton! Didn’t you want to go? Swing by on your way home. I owe this place an apology, good beer.”

Robin grinned, remembering Strike’s scathing comments about snooty trendy wine bars when she had expressed an interest in going to Soho’s latest new hotspot. “On my way.” she replied.

The Tube station was absolutely rammed. She looked at the queue of people waiting to even enter the station, and decided to walk. It wasn’t all that far, after all. She texted Strike again. “Tube mad, going to walk. See you in a bit.”

She enjoyed the stroll through London’s busy streets as evening stole over the city and the atmosphere changed. Bars began to fill as offices emptied. She walked along, enjoying the cooling breeze and idly thinking over her date last night. Angela had set her up with a mate of her boyfriend, Luke. Dan had been a nice lad, nice enough that she was planning to say yes if he asked her out again. He hadn’t exactly lit a fire in her soul, but he was charming and funny and she’d had a good evening. He hadn’t texted yet, but she wasn’t desperate for him to.

She soon arrived at the Silverton, and Strike greeted her cheerfully. She wondered how many of the beers he had managed to sample.

“What changed your mind about coming here?” she asked, sliding onto a stool next to him at the tiny table he had procured, with a beer for him and a wine for herself. It was busy, trendy socialites flocking in, determined to be seen to be there. Smart three-piece suits abounded. Strike looked comically out of place in his jeans and huge coat.

“Would you believe, I followed Redhead here,” he said.

Robin raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t her usual kind of haunt,” she said in surprise.

“No,” Strike agreed. “But she met her husband here and they’ve gone off, so no point following. And they do have an impressive range of bottled beers and a couple of offbeat ones on tap. Decided to stick around for a bit.” He grinned again.

“How was your date last night?” he asked presently, studiously casual. “Ben, was it?”

“Dan,” she said. “Yeah, it was good. Not fantastic, but good. He was nice, and funny. I guess he could grow on me,” she smiled softly, remembering. Strike tried not to scowl. “I’m going to say yes if he asks me out again, which is more than I can say for anyone else I’ve met since I’ve been single,” she said.

“That’s good,” Strike managed with difficulty. He was still wrestling with whether or not it would be appropriate to ask her out himself. Tonight wouldn’t count, she definitely only saw him as a friend. He sighed internally, and gazed around the room. He froze momentarily as a too-familiar figure caught his eye.

Robin was sharper than he gave her credit for. Or perhaps he was a little more mellowed by alcohol than he’d realised. “What?” she said, glancing round. “Ah.” There was no mistaking Charlotte’s icy beauty and tall, slim figure. Robin had always felt inelegant and clumsy by comparison, a sturdy Welsh cob next to a nervy thoroughbred. The fact that Charlotte was very carefully not looking at them meant she had definitely spotted them.

“Just ignore her,” Strike said shortly, and changed the subject, asking her if she had any more leads on Corporate Guy’s leak. Charlotte was making a great show of being all over the man she was with - who wasn’t her husband, Robin was sure, he’d definitely had darker hair in the magazine articles she’d seen. Strike appeared to genuinely not care, but she wondered if he did. He was inscrutable.

Her phone pinged and she took it out of her pocket. She smiled. It was Dan.

Strike suppressed another scowl. “Lover boy?” he asked, and she flushed, causing his heart to sink.

“Yes,” she said, and slipped her phone back into her pocket. “He wants to go out again at the weekend.”

Strike took a deep breath. If you wait, she’s going to find another Matthew, he thought. Nick had said pretty much the same to him the other night. He gazed into his pint, wondering if almost four beers was enough Dutch courage. Since when have I ever needed Dutch courage to ask a woman out, he thought. But this was Robin.

“You all right?” she asked lightly. “You’ve gone very quiet.”

He looked up at her, hesitated, wondered if he dared. “Sorry,” he said. “Robin, I...”

He looked uncertain. It made him look boyish for a moment, and she smiled fondly at him.

Strike leaned forward across the tiny table and kissed her.

There was a delicious moment of pure chemistry, of soft lips moving on lips, fluttering hearts, fire kindling in souls, and then Robin pulled back and glared at him.

“Cormoran, that’s not fair,” she said, trying to ignore the skipping of her heart. It hadn’t done that when Dan had softly kissed her goodnight.

Strike blinked a little. He supposed it wasn’t, trying to influence her decision with a kiss. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I thought...”

“You’re doing it for the wrong reasons,” she said firmly. He dropped his gaze, guilty. Robin looked offended now.

“It’s one thing,” she said crossly, “to kiss me to throw a mark off the scent of us watching them, if you had to.” She was blushing now at the thought. “But I’ll not be used to make your ex jealous.”

Strike’s jaw dropped and he stared at her. “Good God, Robin, that’s _not_ what I was doing,” he said, firmly. “Those definitely would be the wrong reasons.”

She stared at him. “Well, what wrong reasons did you think you were you doing it for, then?” she demanded.

Strike paused, a pause during which he flushed scarlet. Robin watched, fascinated. She’d never seen him look so uncomfortable.

“To stop you going out with Dan again,” he muttered at last. She frowned.

“Why?” she asked, wrong-footed, confused. Strike sighed, exasperated. “Because I was hoping to persuade you to go out with me,” he said, slightly too loudly.

Robin froze for a moment, her brain scrambling to keep up, and then she giggled suddenly at the absurdity of their situation. He glared, stung. “What?” he demanded. “Is that such a silly idea?”

“No, not at all,” Robin said. “Oh, Cormoran, I’m sorry for laughing. This is just so muddled. Are you always this smooth when you ask a girl out?” Her eyes twinkled wickedly at him and he flushed again. No other woman flustered him like she did.

She smiled gently at him now. “We have our wires crossed,” she said. “Kissing me because Charlotte is stood right there is definitely the wrong wrong reasons. But kissing me to show me that you’d like me to notice you and not someone else... That’s the right wrong reasons.”

Strike blinked at her. “What?”

“Just kiss me, Cormoran.”

“Okay,” he said, and did as he was told.

 

 

 


End file.
